bduffy's tip - cutting 500 hz. im actually amazed

[bduffy]

Oh, the good old limiter on the master bus!

yeah, give it a shot. Just like when you first learned and forced yourself to make hi and lo cuts, this take a little getting used to.

[Dayl]

Oh, the good old limiter on the master bus!

yeah, give it a shot. Just like when you first learned and forced yourself to make hi and lo cuts, this take a little getting used to.

We live, we learn. Took me a while anyway.

Duffy, would you be able to help me load the new Electic - Q skins?

I have no idea.

[ahjteam]

Is there a bigger picture there?

Those are my guesses, but I know that they are not much off. They also might be 50-90, 200-330, 1k25-2k, 3-5k, 12-16k

That clarity difference is amazing on "Writings", but it could be even better, so here are my humble suggestions to bduffy: less snare, bring the guitars more in front and add more punch to the kickdrum (remove the mud around 200-2k and add just a little, like +1..3db, to the hi-mid around 5k5 and 8k). If you put the SN+KD to the same group and compress that with 1:3-1:6 ratio so that it reacts to both drums on all hits, it should give you a nice balance on them.

[Dayl]

Nice. I also on occasion make good use of the freq chart that comes with the CM Dvd.

[chilln]

bump

[ahjteam]

I tried the .5KHz trick on master bus. It doesn't work, sounds like the sound loses its air, especially on guitars and vocals

[Kingston]

I tried the .5KHz trick on master bus. It doesn't work, sounds like the sound loses its air, especially on guitars

goes without saying this "trick" is *completely* and *entirely* material dependent.

the topic might as well read "bduffy's tip - boosting 2300 hz. im actually baffled"

there are too many variables to take into account in recording, mastering, mixing, monitoring, room acoustics, preferences, production values, let alone skills to make any kind of stone carved rules with the usage of EQs.

[ahjteam]

I tried the .5KHz trick on master bus. It doesn't work, sounds like the sound loses its air, especially on guitars

goes without saying this "trick" is *completely* and *entirely* material dependent.

the topic might as well read "bduffy's tip - boosting 2300 hz. im actually baffled"

there are too many variables to take into account in recording, mastering, mixing, monitoring, room acoustics, preferences, production values, let alone skills to make any kind of stone carved rules with the usage of EQs.

Nope, I think it is a good trick if it really works on individual tracks, BUT boosting from the 500hz area (~300 was the worst) sounded definately really bad, so more subtle changes might've made some better results (its just like chocolate mousse: if its too little, you crave for more and if its too much it makes you puke).

So I came to conclusion that it doesn't work on master bus atleast with every style of music (I tried with five different kinds of songs (metal, punkrock, jazz and hard-house) + Arkana's "writings" that was posted earlier on this thread), only one that it worked with to some degree was Hard-house (but boosting sounded actually a bit better, but maybe the ringing in the ears caused by flu is one of the reasons, but).

BTW, I couldn't find the Arkana band in myspace (unless its this: http://www.myspace.com/arkana52). It sounded pretty decent, where can I download the songs/buy the albums?

[Kingston]

Nope, I think it is a good trick if it really works on individual tracks, BUT boosting from the 500hz area (~300 was the worst) sounded definately really bad, so more subtle changes might've made some better results (its just like chocolate mousse: if its too little, you crave for more and if its too much it makes you puke).

no.

I wasn't kidding when I meant it's all material dependant.

nothing wrong with boosting 300hz either if situation calls for it. It just happens to be *the* frequency area that is the most difficult to tame in untreated acoustic spaces (read home recording). You generally just can't hear what goes in there outside treated rooms and calibrated monitoring, not with any accuracy anyway.

[bduffy]

Yeah, this is not a universal solution, I've been doing this exclusively with rock music, and Kingston's dead-right: this is all recorded at home, in a minimally treated room, and this is exactly where it seems like my monitoring deficiencies are. Right now I'm going back to a mix that came out way too thin and I'm going to ease off some of the 500hz, or boost 300hz, 2khz in the guitars; places I overlooked. I probably need to look at my monitoring situation...again...

Hey Kingston: I realise that this big dip is just like a big boost, but it's usually better to cut than to boost, no?

ahjteam: thanks for the interest in Arkana. We are, right now, totally lame-o and don't even have a website; I've been too busy mixing and working, working and mixing, and I'm the lucky one that gets to do the website + graphics too! I'll make a loud noise when I get the album and promotional material done, for anyone who's interested.

[Kingston]

Hey Kingston: I realise that this big dip is just like a big boost, but it's usually better to cut than to boost, no?

something like that. I'm of the school that the less bands you need for whatever the desired result, the better. Doesn't matter whether it's a cut or boost with that in mind.

You know, like carving diamonds, one mistake, one cut too many and *smash*, game over. I apply it to equalising.

[bduffy]

Hey Kingston: I realise that this big dip is just like a big boost, but it's usually better to cut than to boost, no?

something like that. I'm of the school that the less bands you need for whatever the desired result, the better. Doesn't matter whether it's a cut or boost with that in mind.

You know, like carving diamonds, one mistake, one cut too many and *smash*, game over. I apply it to equalising.

Hell, yeah; I hear you. I try my best to track the best sounds, use the highest quality instruments and effects, but still the frequencies bunch up. I just don't think my signal chain is up for it yet. I've also been trying to look at optimizing my arrangements (another purist-advice area!), something I tend to over-complicate; but I come from the Tears For Fears/80's-style ethos (I like lots of instruments and melodies), and they used to hook several multitrack consoles together to get the elborate mixes they wanted. But, I guess, they had great recording/engineering on their side.

[seamoss]

hey kingston,

is the stuff on your site all produced/mix/mastered by you? is this a mix of hardware & software?

some really great stuff on there.

[Kingston]

hey kingston, is the stuff on your site all produced/mix/mastered by you? is this a mix of hardware & software?

yeah all me. There's more recent productions on the retroband website (the soul food demo). It's a mixture of things indeed, live instruments, hardware, software etc. recorded and produced in various studio's and environments. These days I try to keep things as live as humanly possible.

[lhama]

bduffy i think rockwool slabs covered in muslin will do what you need. At least here in the uk, they're the best option i've found for a definite improvement of acoustics, although careful placement is required.

cheap too. (compared to the ready made solutions and foam.)

but i still can't quantify compressors as you have,
if it sounds right........
i'd still like a better grip on them

joe